


Distortions

by DarkJediQueen



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-25
Updated: 2010-09-25
Packaged: 2017-10-12 04:47:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/120969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU story of what if SG-1 didn't go through the gate to Klorel's ship but the attack didn't happen for two years and Daniel was forced to leave the program because of his beliefs from the alternate reality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Distortions

"I'm looking for a Doctor Daniel Jackson," Captain Levvy said as he entered the temple outside of Cairo. An older man walked to stand in front of him.

"Who'd ya say you were lookin' for?" He said.

"Doctor Daniel Jackson."

"Ain't heard of him. Try another temple."

"Listen if you do see him tell him the U.S. Air Force is looking for him."

"If I see him." Levvy stepped out of the room. Everyone in the room started laughing, when they were sure the men couldn't hear them.

"Sending a city slicker to look for a desert rat, ain't that the military way of doing things? Huh?"

"What do you expect, Sal. He has probably never seen combat. He was a Captain." A man with long brown hair, a few scars, and a beard said coming up to stand behind Sal. "And who you calling a desert rat. Isn't that the kettle calling the pot black? You've lived in the desert your whole life."

"You got me there, DJ but we are all desert rats here." A murmur of consent went through the crowd in the temple. Twenty people in all. Digging and uncovering artifacts in a new room found in the temple.

"Well they won't give up. So watch what you're saying. I don't really want to deal with them again. There are bound to be a few of them around town and in every temple. Glad I don't get out much and that I don't look the same. No glasses."

"Well what will we call ya then?" A woman asked.

"Susie, dear, call me Cactus." Sal looked at Daniel then started laughing.

"Okay. Sounds good. You don't drink a lot of water and don't seem to be that off for it," Susie said.

"Now can we get back to work? This temple ain't gonna dig it's self up."

"Slave driver, Sal. Slave driver," A man said from the back of the temple.

"You know it." Daniel went back to work but he wondered why the Air Force was looking for him after two years but it was forgotten after he started to uncover an artifact.

~

"Sorry, General Hammond, we couldn't find him. No, no one in the temples around Cairo has heard of him. Well no we didn't look at everyone. We did look. Yes, Sir. We will be on the next flight out of here and thank god." Levvy hung up the phone.

"We got a flight out?" Newman asked from the second bed.

"Yeah, Hammond's sending Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and Teal'c to look for him. This was the last known residence for him and they don't think he left. He could be desert mulch for all we know."

"Well I'm going to take a nice hour long shower when we hit Andrew's. I have sand in places I didn't know I had," Newman said lying down.

"How do they do it? I mean live here. Too much sand." Levvy flicked off the lights. Happily dreaming of home and a shower.

~

"Well General, when's Danny coming home?" Jack said as he, Teal'c and Sam entered the briefing room.

"We don't know," Hammond said with heavy uncertainty. Jack stopped mid-pace, plopping down fast into his seat.

"What?" Sam asked.

"We haven't found him."

"How hard it is to find a long haired, skinny, glasses wearing archeologist in a temple."

"Seems that no one has heard of him."

"You mean that they are hiding him."

"Yes, Levvy and Newman said they looked but didn't see anyone who matched the picture."

"Sir, it's been two years. Who knows what he looks like? Beard, long hair, no hair," Sam said.

"I know. That's why you three are flying into Cairo in the morning and you won't be coming back until you've have found him."

"Yes, Sir," Jack and Sam said.

"If that is your wish, General Hammond," Teal'c said while standing and glancing over at General Hammond, a look of understanding on his features.

"The plane leaves from the airport at 0900. You will be flying as three friends. No mention of the military. Doctor Jackson spent some time here at the base. He may be hiding from us. Might even be watching the local base."

"You got it, General. Discreet." Three fourths of SG-1 filed out.

"Do you really think he's hiding from the military?" Sam said an undertone worry in her voice. They all knew Daniel could hide from them if he really wanted to. Especially in the desert, they all knew it was like his home.

"Sam, we did sort of call him crazy and then kicked him out of the mountain. Who knows what happened with Sha're? He lived for going through the 'gate and we cut him off from that and now it's true. Thank God, Bra'tac was able to tell us with enough time to do something about it. Two months."

"The military did treat Daniel Jackson unfairly. After all, we had been through. Was the idea of alternate realities so abnormal?"

"You both have a point. What do you think he will do when he finds us there?"

"Let's hope he doesn't have a gun," Jack said. He wasn't joking.

~

"Cactus, there's someone here for you," Sal said from the front door of the house Daniel, Sal, and Susie shared.

"Who is it?" Daniel said from the kitchen where he was eating.

"I don't know some kid. You've talked to him before."

"Send him to the kitchen. I'm eating." A few seconds later, a kid stepped into the room. "Amad, it's you. Well, what is it?"

"Well, this morning a group of three people came to the airport from the U.S. An older man, blonde haired woman, and a black man wearing a hat." Daniel reached into the pants pocket of his jeans and pulled out his wallet. He retrieved a small picture from the back and handed it to the boy.

"This them?" Daniel asked his voice low.

"Yes, that's them. They asked a local vendor if they had heard or seen of a Doctor Daniel Jackson around."

"Listen, Amad, tell everyone you can to tell them I left a few weeks ago. I don't want to be found. Here's some money. Go. Quick." Amad took the money and ran. If you wanted something to get around tell the kids. Give it an hour and the whole area knows. Sal walked into the room to hear the end of the conversation.

"Who is it?"

"These people will know me merely by sight. I'll work in the back for a few days until they leave. Fuck. God, why can't they just leave me alone?"

"Tell them that," Sal said sitting beside him at the table.

"No, if they know I am here I will never be safe. I just need to lay low. I say thank you again for letting me stay here with your wife."

"Danny, you're a desert rat. I knew your parents. It's the least I could do. Now I will kick you out if you don't start bring home some people. You need sex bud."

"Yeah, well, not that many people here cater to my needs." This was the same conversation they had been having for a few months now.

"I know since your wife died, no women. Perhaps you'll find a nice man." Sal left Daniel to eat in peace. He walked into the room where his wife was sowing.

"Who was it?" Susie asked.

"Amad. Seems some of Danny's friends are back."

"Ah, well at least we are off today. In the morning, we will tell the crew not to mention him."

"I think that he needs this time alone. God, remember him when he got here?"

"Pissed at the world because his friends betrayed him. Yes, but he's back now and with a dirtier mouth." Sal got a look of innocence on his face and held up his hands. "Yes, you. God, some of those curses. Not just the English either. Arabic, Egyptian, and Hebrew. Who knew such a good boy could cuss so filthily."

"He's a desert rat. All desert rats know those words." Those two loved Daniel as if he was their son. Sal had been on the team that had dug up the items that Drs. Jackson had died under. When Daniel had arrived in Cairo twenty-one months earlier they had taken him in right away, gave him a job on their dig team, and gave him a family.

~

Jack walked alone into the temple where Daniel was working. Daniel saw him enter and hid in a dark corner. "May I help you, Sir?" Sal asked, holding up his hand to as a sign for Jack to halt.

"Well, I was in town and well I didn't want a normal tour guide to view the temples. A few people said I should come see you guys. I have two friends with me and we want a real tour with people who know that they are talking about."

"Sorry, we just uncovered some major finds. I need all of my people here."

"Oh, ok. Well, we'll be here for a few weeks. Vacation. When do you think you could spare someone?" Sal knew he wasn't going to give up. Jack kept looking around for someone.

"Listen Colonel O'Neill, Doctor Jackson left here a few weeks ago. I don't know how to contact him."

"How do you know my name?" Jack instinctively reached for his gun in his holster, but he forgot it wasn't there.

"He had very little when he came here. He left most of his life from the U.S. in the U.S but he had one picture. You, Captain Carter, himself and the man called Teal'c. You three hurt him. Too deep to be coming back after two years. He waited for you three to visit him and tried calling but he couldn't reach of you. So he left." Daniel was listening to Sal. Sal didn't know Jack enough to let him really have it so he decided to do something about it. He walked to stand a few feet behind Sal but still hidden so Jack wouldn't know him.

"Listen to me. Tell me where he is. We need him," Jack said without hesitation, a hint of desperation rising in his voice.

"I've got it, Sal," Daniel said his voice pitched low enough that Jack wouldn't recognize it. "You need him? Well he needed you three. Bastards the lot of you. Fuck off. I won't let you hurt him again. Danny left so you couldn't find him and I plan to keep it that way."

"Danny? You knew him?"

"Yes, before he left he was my lover," Daniel said hoping it would shock Jack enough that he would leave.

"Lover? Daniel is..."

"Bisexual? Yes, he is. Does that bother you, O'Neill? Just fuck off, okay. Neither you nor the others are wanted here; leave so he can get on with his life. He doesn't want anything to do with you, the Air Force, or the U.S. ever again. Can't you understand that?" Jack didn't say anything he just turned and left. The diggers waited until Jack was out of earshot then they started clapping. Every one of them supported Daniel's decision to leave the U.S. some said they would have left months before he had.

"Cactus, go home. Calm down. Hell there's a bottle of whiskey in my cabinet that's calling your name."

"Yeah, I will go. Thanks." The last was said to everyone but he didn't go home instead he went to a local bar to drink. He enjoyed the company.

~

"O'Neill?" Teal'c said when he and Sam entered the hotel room the three shared. Jack sat on the edge of his bed, his eyes fixed on a space that neither Sam nor Teal'c could trace.

"He was here and then he left. I'd say after Levvy was here. The locals say weeks. I talked to his lover. Who told me to fuck off a few times. We all three got called bastards." Sam recoiled at this. His lover?

"What about Sha're?" Sam asked.

"Male lover. Daniel's bisexual," Jack said. That news surprised Sam.

"Did he not tell you?" Teal'c asked. "I knew it about him during my first few weeks on Earth."

"No, Teal'c. The military on Earth doesn't accept bisexuals or gays on a human level," Sam said.

"I see." A knock came at the door. Sam moved to answer it while Teal'c moved to stand beside Jack.

"May I help you?" Sam asked in a sweet voice since a young boy stood out side the door.

"You are looking for DJ?" He asked. He looked around the hall. He looked scared.

"Who?"

"Oh, Sorry. Daniel Jackson."

"Yes, we are. Do you know where he is?"

"The bar at the bottom of this hotel," He said this and took off running. A few seconds and he was out of sight.

"Bar? Danny gets drunk off one beer," Jack said but still the three friends went to the bar. Very few people were in there. It wasn't late enough in the evening for many customers. Only three of the men are roughly Daniel's size, two at tables and the one at the bar.

"We'll count the one at the bar out," Jack said eying the whiskey the man was drinking.

"Why, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

"See those glasses in front of him? Well that means he has had that many shots of whiskey. After five Daniel would be out like a light." It was then the other two that might have been Daniel got up and left. A look at these men's faces told the trio that neither of them were Daniel, their gazes automatically drifted over to the man at the bar. The man at the bar stood, without any trouble, and laid a few bills on the counter. He began to walk out, seemingly lost in thought. Just before the man made it to the exit, he accidentally collided with Jack

"Sorry," The man said looking up into Jack's eyes. Hoping not to see anger.

"It's al…Daniel?" Jack's voice held shock. Not only that Daniel was really here and that he had drank five shots of whiskey and could still function perfectly as well.

"Shit!" Daniel took of running and disappeared into the dense crowd that swathed the city streets. Having experienced the labyrinth of the city numerous times before, he could lose them in a ridiculously short amount of time, and he did. After a few blocks running and dodging random pedestrians, the three stopped to catch their breaths. Worn out they headed back to their hotel.

"How the hell did he put back five shots of whiskey and still be able to lose two soldiers and a Jaffa. He shouldn't be able to move after that," Jack said, still amazed about how Daniel can hold his liquor. The three boarded the elevator and Sam pressed the button for their floor.

"Daniel Jackson has changed," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, remember the lover I talked about? It was Daniel. I see it now. The stance, the hair," Jack said as they entered the hotel.

"His hair, the beard, a few new scars no wonder the airmen didn't know him," Sam said.

"And language. I'd say he could cuss better than most Marines could and drink better."

"Sir, we may have to take him by force. The locals seem to want to hide him." Sam observed.

"This became his family. He grew up here. Did you know that? Until his parents died," Jack asked looking over at Sam as the elevator stopped and the doors smoothly slid open, the three stepped out and made their way to their room.

"No, I didn't know that," Sam said realizing for the first time that see really didn't know Daniel.

"The deserts in his blood, that's why he loved Abydos so much. A man, Sal said that we hurt him." Jack knew this to be true and no one protested against his statement. They knew in their heart of hearts that they had hurt Daniel. Even Teal'c was saddened at how Daniel had been treated.

~

Daniel walked into the desert house he shared to find a very worried Sal and Susie staring at him. He had taken the long way home and it was near dark.

"Daniel, you scared us," Susie began. "We came back and you weren't here. You could have got hurt. They could have taken you."

"I'm sorry. I just went to the bar and had a few shots. Then they showed up. They spotted me and I ran. I lost 'em after a few blocks. Then I just I decided to take a short walk around the city to cool off before I came home," Daniel said, looking genuinely apologetic. He had never wanted to scare Sal and Susie or have any harm befall them because of his presence in their household.

"Well Soony came by. He wanted to know if you had thought about Karnak. He said that they leave next week and will be back in two months." Sal added breaking the tenseness of the conversation.

"Yeah, that," Daniel commented, obviously distracted by thoughts concerning the events of the day. Daniel wanted to go but didn't want to leave everybody at the site.

"Son, what did they do to you?" Sal asked. It was a rule that they let him be but now that the threat was real they knew they just couldn't.

"They betrayed me. Laughed at me. Things friends don't do but I want this over once and for all. Sal, find them. Tell them I want to meet them at the temple at dusk tomorrow. If you guys don't mind packing up a little early?" Daniel asked, hopefully, desperately wanting to resolve the situation at hand. It was the first favor Daniel had ever asked of them, everything else they had given to him out of the goodness of their hearts.

"Sure, son. I'll find them. How?" Sal said, he felt would do almost anything for Daniel to rid him of those that had hurt him.

"Can't be that hard? I think they were staying at the hotel with the bar I like: a black man, a blonde woman, and an older man. It's a strange group."

~

Jack, Sam, and Teal'c ate in their room as they always did. They got out get food then took it back to their room and like their normal: they didn't talk much. They didn't have much to say.

"O'Neill, what happens if he will not go with us?" Teal'c asked as he finished his dinner.

"I don't know. We need him. He knew more about the Goa'uld attack then anyone else."

"Do you think General Hammond will authorize us to take him?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. He certainly won't like it. He may not tell us anything if we do," Jack said as he stood to look out the only window in the room.

"But would we not learn nothing if he does not go with us, we have a better chance of learning anything if we take him," Teal'c said looking over at Jack's solid figure near the window.

"Your right Teal'c, but it wouldn't feel right," Sam said and Jack snorted in agreement. No, it wouldn't feel right. Kicking him out of the mountain then kidnapping him and making him stay there. A knock came at their door and the three started. All three were hoping that maybe it was Daniel. When Teal'c opened the door, all three let out a collective breath. It wasn't.

"Sal?" Jack asked.

"I'm surprised, Colonel. You remember me. You must be Teal'c and Captain Carter," Sal said, addressing the bulking figure that stood before him and the female officer who remained seated at the table wearing a friendly but cautious smile.

"Actually I'm a Major now," Sam said.

"Well, I am here to relay a message. Doctor Jackson will meet you at the temple at dusk tomorrow." Then, just as quickly as he had appeared, Sal departed, having fulfilled his duties to Daniel. Teal'c watched for a moment as the man scuttled down the hall turned the corner and disappeared. He then shut the door, turning to his fellow officers with an ebony eyebrow raised.

"Temple?" Sam asks.

"I guess the temple where I found him. Let's hope Danny doesn't want to kill us. The temple is really out there. Easy to get rid of the bodies," Jack commented, he noticed that this joke got about as many chuckles from his friends as his prior jest about Daniel having a gun.

~

At dusk Jack, Sam, and Teal'c entered the temple. The whole room was swathed in shadows varying in thickness and was a few degrees cooler. The only light that was visible emanated from the rectangular doorway and fell only a few feet into the temple, leaving a ghostly impression on the sandy floor. The team was slightly nervous to say the least, the silence was almost deafening, and the fact that visibility was poor beyond the entrance of the temple wasn't very soothing for the nerves.

"Daniel?" Sam called out. The sound echoed a little.

"Remember the joke about the gun? I was only half joking," Jack said, suddenly feeling dread.

"I wouldn't shoot you Colonel O'Neill," Daniel said appearing from the shadowy depths. Sam jumped back as she realized that Daniel had basically materialized right beside her. No one had heard even the slightest shifting of sands as Daniel approached, not even Teal'c. That was hard to do considering that the floor of the temple is sand.

"You look different Daniel," Sam said as she moved to hug him. He sidestepped her.

"Almost two years here in Cairo can do that," Daniel said stoically. He didn't have his glasses on. Mostly he wore contacts now. It looked better with his shoulder blade length hair.

"It is good to see you well, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said.

"Wish I could say the same. What do you want?" He stared at each of the three for a few seconds. His face showed no emotion. His eyes didn't hold their sparkle anymore.

"Daniel, we have near two months. The Goa'uld are coming," Jack said. He looked for any change in his friends face but there was none.

"Not my problem," Daniel said dismissively as if they were talking about a rainstorm.

"Daniel, we need you for this," Sam said her voice full of disbelief concerning what she had just heard.

"Captain Carter..." He began.

"Major," Sam corrected, and upon reflection, perhaps it was not the wisest thing to do to a pissed off man who held the earth's future in his hands.

"Sorry, Major Carter, do I really look like I give a shit? I told you two years ago they were coming but no. Don't believe the civilian. I'm happy here. So just leave me the fuck alone, alright?" Having said his piece Daniel turned to leave but felt an iron grip clamp down on his arm, it was Jack. Daniel spun around to face his former friend and grabbed Jack's wrist, slowly crushing it until he let go, watching Jack's face contort from agitated to pain. Daniel wasn't a push over anymore.

"Daniel, we need you," Jack groaned. Daniel started laughing.

"You need me. You fucking son of a bitch. I needed you three two years ago. You were my friends, my family. I lost everything again. You said we were still friends. I believed you, all three of you. Now leave. Next time I see you I may not be so nice." Daniel started walking away.

"Daniel, what about Sha're?" Jack asked as a last ditch effort. Daniel stopped cold but he didn't turn around.

"She died a year and a half ago. I saw it in my dreams. Apophis hid her Abydos while she was pregnant with his child, the Goa'uld in her slept. She died in childbirth. My only solace was that the child died as well." His voice didn't have any emotion in it.

"How do you know it's true?' Teal'c asked.

"I know. Leave." Daniel walked away and no shouting brought him back.

~

"How'd it go, Colonel? When can we expect SG-1 back?" Hammond asked over the phone.

"Depends, do you want a three-man team or a four-man team? We found him but he doesn't want anything to do with us. He's changed General."

"We need him Jack. What about his wife?"

"Well he had a vision. He knows she's dead. Hey, don't ask me. He doesn't care anymore. It's like looking at the shell that the man Daniel Jackson used to live in."

"Do you know of anyway to persuade him?"

"No, the only way to get him will be to kidnap him."

"Well, then."

"Sir, the locals are protecting him. I don't know if we can get him without risking human lives."

"I see. You are sure you can't change his mind?"

"Yes, Sir, he's fairly adamant and we don't know where he lives, only where he works. Tailing him won't work. He's already lost us once."

"Use whatever means except lethal force. I'll alert the base to your presence."

"Yes, Sir. Understood." Jack stared at the phone a moment before hanging up. He didn't like this but he had his orders.

"Well, Sir?" Sam asked.

"All but lethal force, he's coming with us no matter what," Jack said blandly.

"You talked of a man named Sal," Teal'c said.

"Yes, maybe if we find his home. He may lead us to Daniel," Sam said.

"Let's get some tranq guns from the base. Hammond's gonna tell them we are here," Jack said wishing Daniel wasn't so stubborn.

~

"Just us two men tonight, DJ," Sal said handing Daniel a beer. It had been three days since the confrontation in the temple. Daniel didn't hold hopes they had left and they hadn't. The morning after they talked to Hammond they went looking for where Sal lived. They saw Daniel leave the house that morning with Sal and Susie and return there alone that evening. They had found where Daniel lived.

"Thanks. Was anything found at the temple today?" Daniel said trying to get his mind off his three former friends.

"Pottery, jewelry, and the like, not much," Sal said sitting down in a chair across from the couch where Daniel sat.

"Ah, I won't be going to Karnak. I need to stay here," Daniel said staring at his beer.

"Good. While we would have supported your decision, we would have missed you," Sal said with a smile on his face.

"Same here, you know I missed the desert. It's so simple out here," Daniel said a smile coming on his face, the first one for days.

"Why do you think I left Chicago?" Sal said laughing. Daniel stood hearing noises outside, not the normal noises for Cairo at night, not in this part of town.

"Shh. Sal, go to your bedroom. No matter what stay there. You hear me!" Daniel said while standing up and looking around. It was coming from the front door.

"Yes." Sal knew to comply and not fight.

"If you can't find me, send my stuff to the base. It'll get to me."

"Do you think...?"

"They'd take me? Yes." Sal went into the room and shut the door. Daniel smiled when he heard the lock turn. The electricity in the house went out. Daniel dropped to his knees with his hands behind his head. He knew resistance would hurt either Sal or Susie, if she came back, or it would wreck the house. When Jack opened the door, he almost dropped his gun when he saw Daniel on his knees with his back to them. Sam and Teal'c followed him in. None expecting Daniel to be just sitting there waiting on them.

"Any harm to Sal or Susie and you will have to kill me," Daniel said calmly.

"Where are they?" Sam asked looking around the room.

"Sal's in his room. He won't come out. Susie's out with friends, I will go quietly if I can call her from the base," Daniel said. He hadn't moved so no one would get jumpy and pull the trigger.

"Sure and go back a bag," Jack said putting his gun down. Daniel stood and walked to the entryway to his room. He smiled looking back at Jack

"Not gonna follow me in?" He said a mocking tone in his voice. Jack didn't answer. A few minutes later, Daniel emerged from the room with a duffel bag over his shoulder. "I'm gonna say goodbye to Sal."

Daniel knocked on the door and it opened. Sal stepped back when he saw it was Daniel. Daniel stepped into the room but stayed in the line of sight of the three people in the room. They talked in hushed tones for a few minutes then Daniel steeped out.

"Tell Susie I will call her in the morning. It's better this way. If I resist someone might get hurt and it will be the wrong ones." He turned and looked at the three people in the living room with hatred in his eyes. They all three saw the look and looked away.

"Luck, Daniel. That's all I am giving you." Daniel smiled and walked towards the front door. Jack and Sam took lead while Teal'c walked behind Daniel. Daniel didn't like this but he knew that he could only get away once he was sure no one would get hurt and the tranq guns would definitely be a help.

"The General must really want me back if he authorized you to kidnap me." No one answered him. He knew they wouldn't. They really didn't want to do it this way but he was leaving them no choice. Just the way he wanted it.

~

Susie returned home late that night. The lights were out so she thought her boys were in bed. After opening the door, she saw Sal sitting in the dark with no drink around. They hadn't turned the electric back on yet. It would take until morning for the company to get it back on.

"Sal, what's wrong? Where's Daniel." She ran to his room. Most of his stuff was gone. She came back out. "Sal?"

"They came and took him. He didn't fight them. He didn't want one of us to get hurt. Or our house damaged. He will call you and say goodbye tomorrow. He said his stuff could be sent to the base. He will get it from there." Sal's voice held no emotion.

"Why couldn't they leave him alone?" Susie was on the brink of tears.

"I don't know. The three came with guns. They looked like tranq guns. They were going to knock him out and maybe us. He did it the best way," Sal said while hugging his wife.

"God, what's everyone gonna say tomorrow when we tell them?" Susie said pulling back and looking him in the eyes.

"There will be a few very pissed off archeologists at the dig in the morning," Sal said simply knowing it to be true.

~

"Not the base?" Daniel asked when he was taken to the hotel room. The room had three beds. Stuff was thrown everywhere.

"You won't run," Jack simply said as Teal'c shut and locked the door.

"What makes you say that? The moment I was out of their house my word meant nothing, plus you wouldn't hold them hostage. Not your way or wasn't your way." He knew his words cut at them and he wanted it to. He wanted them to feel some of the pain he had lived with for so long.

"Daniel, what happened to you?" Sam softly asked. Her eyes held worry. He looked away. He walked to the window and looked out it. He liked the desert at night. It hid everything.

"America. The first time I ever set foot on its soil I lost my parents. Then I spent ten years hopping homes until I got to college. Then years later, I found a family. A wonderful loving family that loved me and then it was taken away from me. I went back to America and a year later the family I had made with my three friends was thrown in my face and I was thrown on my ass. Now ask me again. Ask again what the FUCK HAPPENED TO ME!" Daniel screamed the last words at all three of them but he didn't turn around.

"Daniel..." Sam started. He turned to look at her. His eyes full of anger.

"I've never hit a woman before. Talk and I will." Sam stepped backwards. No one had ever seen that look on his face, not even when looking at Apophis. "I'm going to bed."

"Okay," Jack said as Daniel lay down on the bare floor. "Want covers?"

"No I'm fine." Seconds later, his breathing evened out, and a smile formed on his face.

~

Jack woke up the next morning feeling funny and finding Sam and Teal'c asleep. Teal'c looked to have fallen asleep while taking the night watch. He lay on his side on the floor. Jack looked around Daniel was nowhere. The bathroom door was open and no one in it. Jack jumped off the bed and moved to shake Teal'c.

"O'Neill?" Teal'c said.

"Where's Daniel?"

"I do not know." The phone rang. Jack picked it up.

"O'Neill," He barked.

"Mr. O'Neill, I have a message for you from Doctor Jackson. It says 'I won't go back.'" Jack slammed the phone down.

"He ran. How'd he..." His eyes fell on the tranq guns. A few of the darts lay on the ground beside it.

"Sir?" Sam said as she heard him while waking up. Teal'c stood at the window looking out it. He saw no one in the crowd that looked like Daniel.

"He tranqed us, Carter," Jack simply said. She sat straight up. Both thinking about what Hammond was going to do to them. This time there was no way to track Daniel. He had evaded them and gotten away with it.

~

At noon, a letter was delivered to Sal and Susie. They recognized Daniel's handwriting immediately.

"My Adopted Parents,

I have run from them. They will be by to see if I went back to you. I didn't want to put you in harms way so I am writing this letter. I am fine. In a few weeks I will write to you so you will know I am still fine.

Love, Daniel"

"He'll be fine Susie. He's a grown man."

"I know but now he's alone. Why couldn't they leave him alone?"

~

Daniel stood outside the temples at Karnak. The sun had just set and he had just arrived. He stood there taking in the sights. He had been here once when he was little with his parents but not much was remembered from that time.

"Beautiful," He said aloud. A man steeped up behind him. Daniel was so lost in his thoughts he didn't hear the man step up behind him But he did hear the gun cock.

"Doctor Jackson, we would be very happy if you would come with us," The man said his voice low and controlled

"I'm sure you would," Daniel said turning. He kept his hands where they could be seen. He saw the man was a Captain in the Air Force.

"Hands behind your back," The man said then moved to handcuff him. Daniel laughed at little at this.

"Not taking chances this time. How are Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and Teal'c?"

"On their way here." He motioned for Daniel to walk towards the car.

"Why'd you find me?" Daniel asked.

"Colonel O'Neill, remembered you talking about wanting to return here someday."

"Yes, I did say that to him didn't I? I'm surprised he remembered," Daniel said as the car door was opened for him. "Aren't you a nice first date, opening the door for me? Hope you know it won't get you fucked."

"Come nicely," Was all the man said. Daniel and the man were the only ones in the car, Daniel in the back seat and the man driving. They drove to a hotel close to the local airport. He was put in a room alone and left there. Still handcuffed he looked around the room. Everything that could be used as a weapon had been removed. Daniel laughed at this.

"I've got the Air Force scared of me. Little ol' Doc Jackson has the Air Force treating him like some lethal weapon. Of course, they don't need to know about the training my friends at the dig gave me or the base. Get these cuffs off and O'Neill will be singing a higher note for a while." Of the three Daniel hated Teal'c the least. He was an alien and couldn't go anywhere on Earth with out an SGC member. Jack on the other hand took him in and made him his friend then left him. Sam was the one who believed in him only to ditch him at the first chance. An hour later, he heard voices outside his door.

"Well?" Jack said outside the door.

"He was easy to get, Sir, made no attempts to escape. Has been quiet in the room since," The man who took him said. His voice a little timid, Daniel laughed at the Captain, scared of Jack O'Neill was something he had got over long ago.

"Is he still handcuffed?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, like you care," Daniel said quietly.

"Yes, he is," the Captain said with pride in his voice.

"Stay here. No one is to enter this room. Got it, Captain?"

"Yes, Sir." The door opened and Jack stepped in. Sam and Teal'c were next. Daniel turned to look at them. His hands behind his back since he was handcuffed, it made him look slightly dignified.

"Turn, let's see the hands," Jack said. Daniel chuckled as he showed that his hands were empty. "Carter, check him for anything."

"No," Daniel said. Sam stopped a few feet from him. "Teal'c."

"Fine, Teal'c." Daniel stood passively as Teal'c checked him over for any weapons. He found the knife in the boot and the box cutter in his belt. Teal'c handed them to Jack.

"Nice weapons. Seems you've learned to take care of your self. That was good back in Cairo. A Jaffa, an Air Force Major, and a Colonel," Jack said as he looked at the knife, no blood on it.

"Colonel, we leave in twenty minutes. Hammond booked us a nice private jet so we four can talk," Sam said looking at her watch.

"And so you don't have to explain to any passengers why you are kidnapping an archeologist from Egypt," Daniel said looking Jack in the eye.

"Yeah, that too," Jack said. Twenty minutes later, they were aboard a private jet the Air Force uses. Once in the air they removed Daniel's cuffs. Jack was surprised Daniel hadn't complained about the handcuffs.

"How long has the SGC been open after Kinsey got it shut down?" Daniel asked Jack who sat across from him after Jack removed the handcuffs. Sam and Teal'c were playing cards at the other end of the plane.

"A few weeks, Deep Space Radar saw them and reported it to us. We went and got Teal'c then went looking for you. Kinsey still didn't believe it was the Goa'uld. He said it could be some meteor. Then we got pictures back: Two mother ships."

"Then the gate address would do us no good," Daniel said.

"No. We tried couldn't get a lock." Then silence was back between the men, neither looking, nor wanting to look at the other. Sam and Teal'c watched them from the corner of their eyes.

~

"What happened?" Doctor Janet Fraiser asked as she saw Daniel and Jack enter the infirmary. She almost didn't recognize Daniel. Jack had a bleeding nose and mouth and Daniel in handcuffs with a swollen eye and a few cuts. "Why is Doctor Jackson in handcuffs?"

"My hands liked the feel of hitting Colonel O'Neill in the face," Daniel said with apparent joy in his voice. Janet gasped. Jack surged after Daniel. Daniel kicked him square in the balls, since he couldn't use his hands.

"Airmen, restrain Colonel O'Neill," Janet said as she looked at Daniel's eye. General Hammond walked into the room with Sam and Teal'c to see Jack being restrained.

"Doctor Fraiser, what happened here?" He asked surprise in his voice.

"Colonel O'Neill tried to get Doctor Jackson again," She said looking at Jack for a second.

"I have no hands so I kicked him. In what's left of his dick." Jack tried to get out of the airman's hold.

"Colonel, calm down or you'll be sedated," Hammond said in a stern voice.

"Tell the prick to shut his mouth," Jack said staying on the bed the airmen had put his on. Daniel sat on the other with his back to Jack.

"Colonel!" Hammond snapped.

"Don't worry, General. I don't mind. His ego needs boosting since he's lacking." Jack made to get off the bed. The airmen shoved him back down.

"Both of you, not another word," Hammond said. He didn't understand this. These two men used to be best friends. Now they act like bitter enemies.

"It's been like this since the last of the trip. We almost didn't get Colonel O'Neill off Daniel but Daniel took care of himself," Sam said looking at the General

"Major, what happened?" Janet moved to Jack feeling that there was no damage done to Daniel. A nurse was cleaning up the few cuts Daniel had on his face.

"The whole flight was good until the last hour. Daniel didn't talk. We removed the cuffs for a while then replaced them when we got close. Teal'c and I played cards. Daniel and Colonel O'Neill sat across from each other not talking. Thirty minutes out, I hear Daniel screaming 'Get off me you motherfucker.' Then I hear a thud. I find Daniel's eye swollen and the Colonel on the floor holding his ... with nose and mouth bleeding. I don't know what happened. Neither will talk but it seems that Daniel insulted Colonel O'Neill's manhood."

"I see. Doctor, clean them up. Take Doctor Jackson to the V.I.P. room and have Colonel O'Neill taken to the briefing room.

~

"I was trying to be nice. I've been gone two years. I asked him if he had a girlfriend. He said no one since Sara. We talked. He and I talked for a while, neutral things. Then he made a few comments on my sex life. I got defensive," Daniel said while he sat at the table in the briefing room drinking a cup of coffee. His eye was not as swollen but it would be a hell of a black eye for a few days.

"Why?" Hammond asked.

"I'm bisexual, General. He made a comment about not getting enough with women so I had to fuck men. I said that he's just jealous because he can't even buy sex. It all went to hell from there. Luckily, I was taught how to defend myself in any situation by my friends in Cairo." He left out whom the friends were.

"I see. Now we need to talk about the Goa'uld invasion in the other reality. Show them in," Hammond said to the airman who stood at the door. Daniel kept his eyes on the table he didn't look up. Jack didn't look around he just looked at the General as he filed in, and as always Sam and Teal'c followed him. Teal'c took a seat next to Daniel and Jack and Sam sat across from them. They had figured out that Daniel could stand to be near Teal'c. When everyone was seated, Daniel told his tale.

"I don't know much. I wasn't allowed to see all that much of the base and what was happening. General O'Neill kept me guarded at all times. I know they take out all the major cities of Earth from orbit and then they land a ship on the mountain but that Earth was only attacked by one ship. Since I didn't go to Abydos I guess Sha're and Skaara were never taken, so no Klorel. This fact changes much of what I know and that Teal'c was leading the assault on Earth. So we have a better chance but not to use those coordinates."

"I see, Doctor Jackson. Is that all?" Hammond said, wishing there was more.

"Yes, now return me to Cairo," Daniel said looking Hammond in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, Doctor Jackson. We need you here. You know the most…" Daniel jumped out of his seat.

"I am an American citizen! You can't keep me here!" Daniel said moving towards Hammond. Jack and Sam moved to block Daniel from him. Hammond stood up to look at the young man.

"I'm sorry. I have my orders. You are to stay here. Please follow Captain Levvy to your room." Hammond motioned at the door. He gave up. There was no way he could take three officers and a Jaffa and get out of the base.

~

Daniel sat on the bed in the room that was now his room on the base.

"The V.I.P. room for very important people, hah, if I was important I wouldn't have been sent away." He picked up a pillow and threw it against the wall. "Why couldn't you all have left me the fuck alone!?" He screamed.

"Sorry, Daniel," Jack said from the doorway. He had come in as the pillow had hit the wall.

"What the hell! Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Jack entered and shut the door.

"Listen I know your mad. None of us wants to keep you here. It was supposed to be: collect you, get the info, and return you to your life but the higher ups changed their mind. They didn't want to let you go once they had you."

"Yeah, well all you had to do was ask. I told have told you anything but sending a nobody to do it."

"Well we weren't sure of the reaction we'd get," Jack said. He stayed near the door. If Daniel blew his top Jack wouldn't be able to get away very fast.

"Well, I could have been nicer but all you had to do was say that you needed to talk about the job. Not act like a tourist who always gets what he wants."

"You 'could have been nicer'? Daniel, you made us have to take you!"

"Yeah, well, anyone at the base could have told you where I was. I have had a few thrills with a few of the men there." Jack looked up at Daniel, surprise in his eyes. He thought that was a ruse to get him to go away.  
"So you weren't lying?"

"No, Jack. I am bisexual, just going more towards gay at the moment. Since..."

"Yeah, it's late. I'll have them send some food over." Jack walked out. Daniel didn't say thanks. He didn't need to in his mind. Jack, Sam, and Teal'c had a lot to make up for.

~  
"Sir, he needs to contact the couple he stayed with in Cairo. They could cause some trouble if they think he is being treated unfairly," Jack said sitting in a chair across from Hammond in Hammond's office. They had brought Daniel to the base near three days ago. Since the briefing and the conversation Jack and Daniel had, he hadn't talked to anyone. The Airmen bring his food three times daily and they had put a coffee pot in his room. Jack had had some books delivered to his room and for a few hours a day, he was taken to work out. Jack had heard some nurses talking the other day, about the longhaired man working out. When one of the nurses said it was Doctor Jackson, the others thought she was joking. Most people at the base didn't know him.

"Yes, I know. You can take him to place the call. Jack, you know I don't like having to do this," Hammond said sullenly.

"Yes, Sir, he knows as well but he was happy, as happy as he could be and Sir, SG-3 returned this morning. It seems that Sha're is dead. Apophis loved her so much she was returned to Abydos to be buried. I don't know how he knew but he did. I was thinking we could take him to her grave." Jack hoped that Hammond would agree. Daniel needed it right now, more than anything.

"Doctor Jackson, yourself, Major Carter, and Teal'c will leave in the morning. Dismissed, Jack."

"Sir," Jack said leaving the room. He went to the V.I.P. room. He knocked and didn't hear anything. He knocked again. He was about to walk away when he saw something under the door. He reached down and touched it. It was blood. He tried to open the door but something was holding it shut. He saw an airman walking down the hall

"Get me Sgt. Siler now!" The man took off at a run. Jack tried the door again but nothing. Then the pool got bigger. He ran and hit the medical emergency button then called Doctor Fraiser. Then he called the security office on level 16.

"This is Colonel O'Neill. Are you watching the footage in Doctor Jackson's room?"

"Not at the current but let's check it. He's sitting by the door like he has been for the past half hour Sir." The man thought nothing of this.

"Zoom in at the bottom of the door."

"Sir, what is that?" the man sounded scared.

"How big is the puddle?" Jack demanded.

"I don't know. Doctor Jackson seems to be sitting on it."

"Get General Hammond down here now!" Jack hung up as Janet rounded the corner.

"Colonel O'Neill, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. There's blood under the door but I can't get it open. Daniel seems to be lying against it. I don't want to hurt him more. He's been like this for the past half and hour. The guards thought he was just sitting like that. We don't know how much blood seems he's sitting on it. Where's Siler?!"

"Here Sir," Siler said.

"Get this door open!" Ten minutes later Siler slowly removed the door while Jack held Daniel upright. A nice sized gash was on the back of his head. The door handle had blood on it. Jack picked Daniel up and laid him on the gurney while Janet checked him over.

"He's breathing's good. His pulse is somewhat shallow. I won't know anything for a while," Janet said, her voice wispy. Then the medics were gone. He noticed for the first time Hammond, Teal'c, and Sam.

"I don't know, Sir. I was coming to tell him about Abydos and the call. I knocked and got nothing. Then I saw the blood. I tried to open the door but couldn't. I had the security office tell me. Seems he had been leaning on the door for a good half and hour before I came. He didn't lose very much blood considering. I want to go look at those tapes, Sir."

"Go," Hammond said. Jack went to level sixteen and Hammond, Sam, and Teal'c went to the infirmary. Twenty minutes later, Jack joined them. Daniel wasn't in the room though.

"Where is he?" Jack said voice full of despair.

"He chipped his skull and needs stitches. We won't know if any brain damage happened until he wakes up. He's in the OR," Sam said.

"Well it seems he fainted or something. I think he was heading for the door because he felt bad. On the way down, he hit his head on the doorknob, a freak accident." No one said anything. Jack started to mess with a few of the things around the room, until Janet walked in. He dropped the cup he was playing with and walked over to the group. Daniel was wheeled in on a bed and hooked up to monitors.

"No swelling. I have him sedated for right now. He will wake up on his own in a few hours. Now he may have some memory loss, but not much. Maybe the last few weeks or so, so I will have him restrained. It might help if someone talked to him." Janet left them to fill out the paperwork.

"I have work to do," Hammond said leaving the room. He wanted to stay but couldn't.

"I must complete my Kel'no'reem. I will check in later," Teal'c said placing his hand on Jack's shoulder then walking away.

"Sir, he doesn't seem to like me. Maybe you should stay. He seems to be able to tolerate you," Sam said a sad smile on her face.

"Yeah, I will call when he wakes up. Wild horses won't take me away. If he didn't think I cared for him before, he will think I do now." Sam didn't say anything and walked out. Jack moved to sit in the chair beside Daniel's bed. Daniel's head was wrapped in gauze and his face was very pale. An hour later, he still sat there. Janet walked out.

"Colonel, why don't you go get something to eat?" Janet said as she checked his vitals.

"No," Jack said.

"I will call you if he wakes up," Janet said.

"No. Doc, I'm fine. What's the chance of him losing more than a few weeks memory?"

"Very slim. It wasn't that bad of a hit. I'd say at the most he will have forgotten the last month or so, if he forgets anything at all." Jack just nodded. Janet left him there. She remembered the closeness of SG-1. One member injured and you couldn't get Jack away and with the circumstances of his return, she thought that Teal'c would be the one to stay. She moved into her office and shut the door. Anything Jack said would be kept private. Twenty minutes later, Daniel started to move. It didn't take him long to wake up. He looked around; not really seeing anything since his contacts had been removed and his glasses were not on his face.

"Sal, where the hell are my glasses? Why am I tied to the bed? I know full well I didn't bring anyone home last night. Sal!" Jack stood there. He didn't know what to say.

"Daniel, you're not in Cairo." Daniel squinted to look at the man talking he knew the voice but couldn't place it.

"Well then where the hell am I?" Daniel said. He still couldn't focus his eyes.

"Uh, well, the SGC." Daniel's eyes went wide. He looked around. He could focus is eyes a little and saw that he was indeed in the SGC.

"What the fuck? What did you do to me? Take me from my fucking bed!?" His screaming brought Janet out of her office.

"Daniel, please calm down. You have a head injury. I don't want you to split your stitches," She said trying to calm him down.

"I ask again, what the hell did you do to me?" Daniel said in a calm controlled voice. Janet handed him a pair of his glasses. He put them on and for the first time saw Jack. "Get him the hell out of here!"

"Colonel, go. I won't have you aggravating my patient." Daniel watched him go. "Daniel, you were here when you hit your head. You have been here three days. You fainted from not getting enough sleep and hit the doorknob on the way down. Due to your injury, you have had some memory loss. To you what's the date?"

"4th of June 1999."

"See you have lost I'd say about three weeks. It's June 25th. Now your memories will slowly come back. Are you going to be fine if I unstrap you?"

"Yeah, Janet, I'll be fine but keep Colonel O'Neill and the rest of SG-1 away from me." She saw the man they originally brought here was back. He hated this place and all it did to him.

"Well, General Hammond will have to talk to you. He will explain everything to you."

"Fine, can I eat?" He said hoping he could because he was starving.

"Sure, I will have them bring you some food. After the General leaves I want you to sleep."

"Yes, Doc," Daniel said. His voice and manner close to who he used to be, at least around Janet.

~

General Hammond sat at his desk thinking of the young man they had in the base who didn't want to be there. He almost didn't hear the knock on his door.

"Come in," He said looking up from the paper he wasn't reading. Jack stepped in. Hammond motioned for him to sit down. "What can I do for you?"

"Daniel's awake, Sir. He uh, has no memory of anything of the past few weeks. Not the first airmen we sent to find him, nor us kidnapping his and his arrival here is gone as well and he is not in a good mood. Fraiser's waiting for you to talk to him. He said that none of SG-1 is to visit him and since he is her patient, she is holding that. She doesn't want him ripping his stitches. He's eating now." Jack had a haunted look on his face.

"What's wrong, Jack?" Hammond asked noticing the look on Jack's face

"We uh had a nice thing going. He didn't yell at me or curse. Now it's gone. I had hoped he wouldn't forget anything. It's just made things worse."

"Go home, Jack. Take a day or two. Let Doctor Jackson calm down. I am still trying to get it so we can release him. The Pentagon thinks it's a good idea to keep him here, as does the president."

"It's like with the Tollan but this time Daniel can't save himself." Jack stood and left. He stopped at Teal'c's room to tell him that he is not to go near the infirmary since Daniel doesn't want to see him. He talked at little longer to Sam. Then he changed and went home and drank until he passed out. The General called and left him a message that he could take a few days instead, since he wasn't needed. SG-1 had become just a team that went in when it was needed. When he woke up, he played the message and laughed. Yes, that meant a few more days of drinking.

~

Sam and Teal'c walked into the infirmary. They had found messages that Daniel wanted to see them. Jack was on his last day of down time. They didn't see anyone on the bed that Daniel had been assigned.

"I won't bite," Daniel said walking from the restroom. He was actually smiling. Something he hadn't done since they found him. "I promise."

"Daniel, you're smiling." Daniel laughed and walked up to her. He opened his arms and hugged her.

"Yeah, I am," He said while pulling back. He clasped Teal'c on the shoulder. "I have had a lot of time to think about everything. I may have reacted a little extreme. Why don't we spend sometime sitting in here talking? After Sam gets me some coffee."

"Daniel, you know very well Janet doesn't want you having any coffee," Sam said in a playful tone.

"Sam, I have been three days without coffee. I need some coffee. Please," Daniel begged an even bigger smile on his face.

"I will get it for you, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said walking out of the room.

"Daniel, you still have it. You can wrap us around your finger." Daniel laughed and sat down on the side of the bed. He patted the seat beside him motioning for her to sit down as well.

"I know," Daniel said laughing. "Sam, I am sorry. I guess my reflexes went up."

"Reflexes?" Sam said as she sat down on the bed beside Daniel.

"Well, I didn't have a really good childhood. I don't talk about it often. After my parents were killed, I was bounced from foster home to foster home. After a while, I started to act defensive at some. I didn't want to fall for the family and then have to leave again. When I was kicked out of here, they came back. I became that ten-year-old little boy who had seen too much hurt to care about those around him. Sal and Susie helped a little but you guys coming back after me. Well it kinda made it come back." Teal'c came back in and handed Daniel a cup of coffee.

"Now, if Doctor Fraiser comes in we have no idea where that came from," Teal'c said smiling.

"Thanks, Teal'c." Daniel took a drink of his coffee. A look of pure bliss went over his face. Sam had missed seeing that look on his face.

"Also General Hammond would like you to come by his office when you are released from the infirmary. He has something he would like to talk to you about." Daniel shook his head.

"Janet said that if my blood work looked good I could be released today. She is checking it now. God, I hope so. I am so sick of being in here. You know Siler has been in here four times in three days. He sure gets hurt a lot."

"You missed it a few weeks ago. Colonel O'Neill accidentally knocked him off the ladder leading to the control room. He had a concussion and a sprained wrist. The General about killed him. Siler is staying away from him right now," Sam said laughing. Teal'c was even smiling.

"I can imagine." Daniel laughed and drained the cup. Two seconds later, Janet walked in. She saw Daniel with Sam sitting beside him, Teal'c standing to the side. All three had happy looks on their face. She smiled.

"Well three members of SG-1 have made up. Where's the Colonel?"

"Home, General Hammond gave him a few days. He should be back tomorrow," Sam said. "So is our boy getting out of the infirmary?"

"Yes, he is. I called and told General Hammond. He said for Sam to show you your surprise then go to his office to talk."

"Surprise?"

"Come on, Daniel," Sam said pulling him off the bed.

~

Daniel stood at the door of what used to be his office. It was almost the same as the day he had left it. He looked at everything. The picture of his on the camel, the picture of Sha're, and a team picture. He couldn't find any words to say.

"Teal'c and I spent last night doing this. General Hammond said you are to start work on translations as soon as possible," Sam said hoping his reaction was going to be a good one.

"Thanks, guys. I uhh, thanks," Daniel said at a loss for words

"Well Daniel. I need to go. SG-5 brought back an object. It's giving off some power readings. You need to stop by later. It has writings on it." Sam walked out.

"And I must go help train SG-10. It is good to have you back, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said putting a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"Yeah, I know the feeling Teal'c." Teal'c nodded and left. Daniel walked around the room for a few more minutes then went to General Hammond's office. He knocked and was told to come in.

"Ah, Doctor Jackson, I presume you were taken to your office?" He said as Daniel sat down in the chair across from him.

"Yes, I was. I am ready to start work, if it's ok with you," Daniel said staring at Hammond.

"You were very much missed. The program has been up for about a month and a half. It took us that long to find you. The SG teams have been bringing back many artifacts. Stuff that you could do in hours takes others days. Once you are cleared and checked out, you will be rejoining SG-1 and going on missions. I understand you are a more capable fighter," Hammond said slightly praising the man.

"I have had some training in the area since I left here." Daniel didn't offer anymore. The military didn't need to know that while he was in Cairo he spent every Saturday and Sunday training with the people on the base and other times training with the diggers, who taught him things the Air Force couldn't, though some of the Airmen taught him a few things that shouldn't be done in public.

"Well, just to see how well you can do. I want to train with a few of the new recruits under Teal'c."

"I understand, Sir." Hammond thought it funny he called him Sir. It used to be just General, but he let it go.

"Dismissed." Daniel stood and left the office. He made his way to his office. Then detoured to Sam's he would help here then go to train with Teal'c. These next few months would test his resolve. Before he left Cairo, a few of the airmen at the base had almost talked him into joining the military. Maybe due to his work here he would be able to skip a few steps but that was the future. Daniel knew to plan for the future but don't spend all his time on it. Because it never worked out the way one wanted it.

~

"So I can leave the base for a few hours?" Daniel asked as he buttoned up a dress shirt that had been bought for him since none of his old clothes fit anymore. He stood in the locker room with only Hammond as company.

"Yes, as long as you have an SGC employee with you," Hammond said.

"What, General, don't trust me? And I thought you knew me better than that." Daniel's tone was light and joking. It had been a week since Daniel had awoken up after the accident. He gave help where he could and seemed fine. It took two days to get him memories back. He had decided that he should just make it so they didn't need him then he could go home, and that his attitude was just getting in the way. He could be happy here again. Sal and Susie knew he was staying. They said that he would always have a place on their team. They would write and tell him where ever they moved to. Then maybe he could get on with his life. He wanted to get off the base for one reason. Jack had been avoiding him. All Daniel wanted to say was sorry.

He and Sam were on speaking terms again. Teal'c, Sam, and he had a nice long talk the day he got out of the infirmary. He understood their reasons for not seeing him and they understood his reason for leaving. It was a truce of sorts. In the end, Daniel forgave them. He had never really thought about the time before he left the SGC. In his 21-month absence from America, he never thought about his life in America. Now that he was back, he wanted to make the best of it. He wanted to save Earth from the Goa'uld. In essence, Doctor Daniel Jackson was back but he kept the hair, he liked it long, and the contacts. He wanted reminders of what had happened in his life. Everyone in the SGC was happy that he was happy again. They had seen Daniel in the workout room. They really didn't want him angry anymore.

"Well, son, if it were up to me I would give you a car and let you go where you want but the Pentagon doesn't want you to leave and they don't trust you. May I ask where you are going to go?" Hammond was glad that the old Doctor Jackson was back. It meant not having to watch what you say.

"Well, Sir, I was hoping I could go see Jack. I really need to talk to him and he is avoiding me on the base. I thought if I caught him at home he couldn't."

"I will have a car drop you off. I will give you a cell phone so you can call when you are ready to return to the base. If all is resolved, you may stay the night with Colonel O'Neill. I remember you two doing that a lot. Pizza nights, I think they were called." He handed Daniel the phone.

"Yes, General, we did do that a lot. I am sorry for how I acted. Let's just say that I have some issues of being left alone." Sorrow flashed through Daniel's eyes.

"It's understandable, son. Now get out of here and son, watch his fists. Your black eye didn't look that good the other week," Hammond said laughing.

"Yes, Sir, General Sir." Daniel threw a mock salute at him.

"Don't worry, one day you will be able to live off the base, again."

"I know, Sir. I only did it to myself, while trying to protect my heart." Daniel waked out of the locker room. Sam stood there.

"Sam," He said as a way of a greeting. She smiled.

"So, where am I to take you?" She said falling into step beside him and they made their way to the elevators.

"You?"

"I am heading home for the night so yeah. I thought it would save some airman from having to take you everywhere."

"Jack's. He and I need to talk."

~

Jack sat watching a game on his T.V. He had made himself sick a few days ago so he drank no beer, only coffee and soda. He had been watching this game for an hour when he saw the car pull into his drive. He heard a car door open then shut, and the car pulled out. He thought this strange. He stood to get to the door. Wondering who thought they could stay here and not need a ride home. The coffee cup in his hand fell when he opened the door. The sarcastic comment died before it reached his lips.

"You know Jack that was a waste of perfectly good coffee," Daniel said smiling. Something he hadn't done while in the presence of Jack for two years. "Sam dropped me off. I was given a few hours outside the base for good behavior. So can I come in?"

"Sure," Jack said as he moved so Daniel could enter. "What brings you to my place this late at night?"

"Jack, its 7:00, and we need to talk. Don't worry. I won't bite or yell." Daniel flashed him the smile that used to make Jack happy to know he had put it on Daniel's face. Now it just reminded him of the shit he had been to Daniel. He had been avoiding him for the last few days so that he could think of something to say to the man but him showing up here unannounced made him forget everything he had thought about. "So, do you have a beer for me?"

"Yeah, I'll go get it. Make yourself comfortable." Jack waved him towards the living room. Once in the kitchen he saw the phone. "Hey, how about some food?"

"Sounds good, you do remember how I like my pizza don't you?"

"Everything but the fishes."

"You got it," Daniel said as he looked around the room. Everything was the same as the last time he had been here. Pictures of his family, pictures of friend, and pictures of his team they are spread all over the room. He saw a new picture. One that he now remembered being taken. It was of Jack and him. They are standing outside by the grill. It was the last barbeque before their trip to the alternate reality. A few weeks after Jack and Sam were saved from Antarctica. Before he was thrown out of the program with everyone saying he was crazy. Then Jack walked back in and handed him a beer.

"So you can drink this stuff now," Jack said as he sat down on the couch beside Daniel.

"Yeah, takes a good amount to get me drunk. You can thank my friends at the dig. I think last count was about ten shots of whiskey to get me to be funny on my feet. They took it as their job to make me able to drink a lot of alcohol. After two beers and I was drunk the first time we went drinking."

"Well, that's good. Not such a cheep date anymore," Jack said making mention to the day Daniel came back from Abydos.

"Jack, I'm sorry." This surprised Jack. He nearly dropped his beer. "I was out of line in my treating of you and everyone else"

"Daniel, I could have believed you or at least tried harder. Or came to see you before you felt you had to leave. Hell, I could have done anything. Let's agree that both parties in this made mistakes. Let's start with a clean slate."

"I think that would be good," Daniel said smiling.

"So did you hear about what I did to Siler before you came back?" Jack's tone was light to match the one Daniel had had earlier.

"Yeah, knocked him off the stairs," Daniel said giving him a sly look.

"He's a trooper he can take it," Jack said standing to go get another beer.

~

"So Doctor Jackson you think you may have found a way to contact Thor's race the Asgard?" General Hammond asked as they all sat down in the briefing.

"Yes, this planet, K'tau, has a place where we may be able to contact the Asgard. Now from what I have been able to tell they were part of the alliance of aliens from Ernest's planet. They may help us fight the Goa'uld."

"Colonel O'Neill?" Hammond asked.

"I don't know about that stuff but if Daniel thinks that it's worth a try let's try it. We only have a month until they arrive. We can't afford not to try it."

"I agree. You will leave in the morning. Get some sleep. You may just save Earth tomorrow." SG-1 filed out.

"Who's hungry?" Jack said to his friends. They had been on K'tau for two days and in that time only ate their MRE's. They all were ready for some real food.

"I could eat some real food," Daniel said. He took lead. He knew that trying to get to the commissary before Jack would make Jack mad.

"Ahh, Danny-boy, age before wisdom." And he pushed Daniel behind him. Sam and Teal'c laughed.

"But Jack you ate the last of the Mac and Cheese. That means you are fuller than us. So we get to eat first. Your rules of offworld eating," Daniel said walking into the elevator. Jack grumbled but let everyone enter the elevator. He had made that rule. Who ever ate last off world ate last in the commissary. This was just the first time it had been used against him.

~

"We want to thank you, Thor," Daniel said aboard the Asgard ship the Biliskner. Apophis and Klorel's ships had just been destroyed around Earth space. It had taken nearly a month of negations for the Asgard to trust the people of Earth enough to help them. Apophis was about to attack when the ship had appeared in Earth space. Seconds later, SG-1 had disappeared from the control room in a flash of light. This surprised every one of the members. It took a few seconds for them to see the Asgard people around them.

"It was our pleasure, Doctor Jackson. This has dealt Apophis a very big hurt. He will take some time to recover."

"Still you didn't have to save us. We weren't sure you actually would," Jack said. "But we are grateful. Very grateful."

"We will return you to your world now." The light flashed again and they were in the briefing room. Two airmen stood with their guns out. Walter had dropped his cup of coffee and Hammond nearly fell out of his chair.

"Well, Sir, the Asgard came through," Jack said trying to lighten the mood.

"I know. What happened?" Hammond asked while standing to compose himself.

"The Asgard beamed us to their ship, so that they wouldn't do anything against any defenses we may have managed to put up," Sam said.

"Well we will debrief in an hour. Doctor Jackson, a word." Daniel followed Hammond into his office. "It has been approved. You leave in three days for Washington. You will be gone for about two months."

"So no matter what I was going to go?" Daniel asked a puzzled look marring his face.

"No, I got the call minutes after the attack ended. I will keep this a secret you can tell the team what you wish."

"Thank you, Sir." Daniel left the room to go to his office. After this, he knew he would finally be able to live off the base.

~

Jack, Sam, and Teal'c stood in the briefing room waiting on General Hammond. They knew that this was to get their replacement forth, since Daniel was taking a two-month vacation after the attack on Earth had been thwarted. It was said he was taking it so he could get his life in order. Get a house, get his stuff from Cairo, say goodbye to everyone there. Jack didn't believe it. He had seen Hammond and Daniel talking too many times and Daniel was never home in the recent weeks since the attack. Hammond walked in. A man came behind him. He stood tall and wore glasses. He had dark hair and even facial hair. The remaining members of SG-1 all said to themselves. "Nothing like Daniel at all."

"SG-1, this is Robert Rothman. Doctor Jackson picked him himself. He will be filling in on SG-1 until Doctor Jackson returns." Hammond left to let the members of SG-1 talk with their newest.

"Robert Rothman? Yes, you worked with Doctor Jackson didn't you?"

"Yes, yes, I did. I was his research assistant," Rothman said, his voice slightly cracking. He stared at Jack with a little bit of fear in his eyes.

"Well, you've got big shoes to fill," Jack said before following Hammond into his office.

"I wondered how long it would take to get you in here," Hammond said motioning for him to sit down in the open chair.

"Yes, well, I was wondering if you would tell me the real reason why Daniel left, Sir?" Jack asked wanting to know the answer.

"All I know is that it was personal reasons and that he would be out of town," Hammond said staring down the Colonel in front of him. Jack didn't blink for a second hoping that Hammond would crack.

"I see, Sir. Thank you." Jack stood and walked out. Sam was talking to Rothman.

"Be ready in an hour, Rothman. We have a mission to P8D-243. Don't forget anything. We don't come back for nothing," Jack said as Rothman stood from the chair he had sat in.

"Yes, Sir, Colonel O'Neill, Sir." Rothman walked out to get ready.

"Daniel handpicked him, huh? How many missions do you think he will last?" Jack asked leaning on the table beside Sam. Teal'c cocked his eyebrow at Jack's words.

"Do you not think Daniel Jackson has provided a worthy replacement?" Teal'c asked surprise in his voice.

"Teal'c, no one can replace Daniel but he is a geek, Rothman that is, and well geeks don't do to well in the beginning," Jack said hoping Teal'c would understand. Jack would have rather had someone from another team.

"I think he will last as long as we need him. We have a light schedule. I can't wait to get back from this mission. We have two weeks down time, remember?"

"Yes, two weeks of putting my feet on a cooler, casting into my lake, and sipping cold ones." Jack's eyes became slightly glazed at the prospect of fishing. He just wished that Daniel were around to come with him. Teal'c was going and Sam had declined to go, saying she wanted to spend time with her bother Mark.

~

Two months to the day SG-1 filed into the briefing room to see a man dressed in his dress blues and saluting General Hammond in his office. He wore the full outfit down to the cap. His face was turned so that no one could see his face.

"Must be the new recruit. A Major. A few of the people were talking about him. I guess he's a doctor as well. Or at least a PhD," Sam said looking at the man. She wondered what his job would be around here.

"Great just what we need, another Major-Doctor around this place," Jack said half joking and half meaning it. Sam didn't comment at this. She knew that Jack just hated scientists.

"I wonder what his doctorate is in," Sam said, she was kind of hoping that she would be working with him, if the nurse's gossip was anything to believe.

"I believe that it is archeology, Major Carter. I heard a few people talking about him as well. The nurses in the infirmary also liked him when they gave his a check up this morning."

"So, Daniel has competition in his affection of the nurses," Jack said. Hammond motioned for the man to step out into the room. Sam and Jack didn't look at the man. They were looking at the General. His face was calm, almost a serene look, a look not seen on his face for a while, well before the leaving of Daniel the first time.

"Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, and Teal'c, this is your new fourth. He has just recently become of rank in the military. He went from civilian to Major in just a couple of months," Hammond said knowing this would get a reaction out of his flagship team, or at least half of it. Teal'c probably wouldn't understand it all that well.

"Sir, that is unheard of," Jack said standing straight up. The Major stayed hidden behind the General. "What about Daniel? Did he decide not to come back?"

"Yes, well due to the Major's value to this program he was given a rank that would give him respect in this base. He seemed to have been lacking that when he left," Hammond said. He paused to look at the three faces in front of him. Two held shock, Hammond knew that Teal'c knew his identity but none of the two recognized his face, yet. "As to Doctor Jackson, he will continue to work here. Major?"

The Major stepped out to stand at attention in front of Jack, Sam, and Teal'c. Teal'c already knew who it was, being in the infirmary when he had had his checkup. Sam nearly collapsed when she saw who it was. It took Jack longer.

"Daniel?" Jack said. His voice held disbelief. Standing in front of his was Doctor Daniel Jackson in dress blues with medals according him the rank of Major in the United States Air Force.

"Major Jackson, Sir," Daniel said. Jack saluted him and he dropped his. Hammond smiled and laughed.

"I will leave you four to talk." Hammond turned and left. Daniel still stood in the perfect posture befitting a Major in the presence of a Colonel.

"At ease," Jack said suddenly feeling very strange. He had never in his life thought he would say those words to Daniel. "How?"

"While I was in Cairo, I made friendly with the base. I used to train with a few of the men there. I was actually thinking of joining long before you showed up. Since I couldn't go into boot camp because of my job here the Air Force, Pentagon, and the President all decided that I would join anyway. I have been away for two months while they watched me and decided what rank I would be given, Sir." Daniel enjoyed Jack's slight discomfort.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sam asked. She thought that since they had all made nice again this time they would share everything.

"Wanted it to be a surprise, Teal'c saw me in the infirmary this morning. I was getting my check up as accords first day on the base. He showed no reaction but Doctor Fraiser's was classic. I think she nearly fainted," Daniel said a smile tingeing his face

"Yeah, she isn't the only one," Jack said. "And it's a surprise alright. I think I am going to go do some work." Jack walked out of the room. He needed time to wrap the fact that Daniel was now military around his mind. Once out of the room Sam stalked around Daniel.

"You look damn good in the blues, Daniel. Or should…."

"It's Daniel, Sam," Daniel said smiling. "We are of equal rank. You, me, and Janet."

"That we are," She said, still reeling at the sight of Daniel in dress blues.

"I need to change. Seems SG-7 brought back a tablet and no one can translate it." For fun, Daniel snapped off a salute at Sam before leaving. This only made Sam laugh. She actually thought this might make things better for him on the base. As long as no one found out his little secret but she didn't think that would get him kicked out of the mountain. He was way too valuable.

~

At seven that night, Daniel went to the commissary to eat. He had been there a few minutes when a man walked up to him.

"Why it's Doctor Jackson. I thought you got the idea and had left for good." Daniel eyed him up. He also saw that his rank was only that of a Captain and it seems that he hadn't heard that Daniel was now a Major. Daniel was going to enjoy this.

"No, Captain, I am still here and I would think you would show respect for a superior officer," Daniel said standing. The man looked at Daniel's nametag, which read Major Jackson. He sputtered for a minute and then saluted him. Daniel let him hold it a minute before saluting.

"I'm sorry, Sir." He walked away. Daniel sat back down laughing. Jack came in a few seconds later looking behind himself. He grabbed some food then sat down opposite Daniel.

"Did you see Captain Agraves? He looked as though someone pissed in his food," Jack said. They had talked about the fact that they would act normal around each other earlier. Jack didn't see a reason to change that now, just because Daniel now held rank, showing respect when needed in front of the brass, as Jack put it. Much like Jack and Sam had done, after a while.

"Well he did lose his best punching bag," Daniel said after taking a few bites of his sandwich.

"What?" Jack said nearly spitting bits of a turkey sandwich on Daniel.

"Well verbal punching bag. Me. He just smarted off to me. I don't think he got the news about me being a Major yet. I had to reprimand him. Kinda couldn't get out of here fast enough." Jack laughed. He could see Daniel doing that, woe to any Captains and below who step on his toes. His verbal abuse now would be turned on them ten fold and they have to stand there and listen to it.

"Now I know why you did this," Jack said looking at Daniel.

"What?" Daniel said cocking his head to look at Jack.

"So you don't get picked on," Jack said smiling as he said it.

"Yeah, Jack. That's it," Daniel said. He stood to go back to work. "Well I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. We have that mission, remember, Sir."

Daniel walked to his office to find Major Davis there. The Major had been around during the time leading up to the attack and they had become friends of sorts.

"Doctor Jackson, I was getting ready to come looking for you. I am in town and was wondering if you would like to grab a bite to eat?"

"Sure and Paul, its Major Jackson now." He pointed at his nametag. Paul smiled that his friend had finally done it.

"You mean you did it. Congratulations." Paul moved and shook Daniel's hand. Paul had supported him from the beginning.

"I would have thought you'd have heard about it. I mean I was in Washington for the whole thing. You are the liaison between the SGC and the Pentagon," Daniel said starting to pack up his stuff to go home.

"So would I. Must be in a memo I didn't read before coming here. How'd the Colonel take it?" Paul said while sitting down to wait for Daniel to pack up his office for the night.

"I think if I had approached him outside the SGC about it first he may have fainted, or cussed up a storm. Sam was happy and was Teal'c. I like it," Daniel said while shutting off the lights in his office.

"So you still call her Sam," Paul said while standing and putting his coat on.

"We are of equal rank. I think Jack needs some time to get used to me calling him 'Sir'. Ready?" Even though Daniel had just eaten, he was still hungry. Food from the commissary could only do so much and he was in the mood to celebrate.

~

It would be a week before SG-1 went on a mission with Major Jackson. Everyone in the base was shocked to hear about what Daniel had become. After the program was shut down, many went back to their old standings. When it was reopened most came back. Those who remember what Daniel was like before never thought he could become military but he did. Some of the civilians called him a traitor, but never to his face.

Daniel was still Daniel. In the briefings, he acted as he used to. Interrupting when he got the chance and putting his opinions out there. General Hammond had told him that he didn't mind. Daniel was primarily an archeologist, anthropologist, and linguist and his military training came in second. Teal'c still called him Daniel Jackson. Sam still called him Daniel and well Jack called him Jackson much like he had that first mission so long ago but when he is pissed or exasperated with him it's 'Daniel!' Especially off world. The little thing about his sexuality was pushed under the rug and no one who knew talked about it. Daniel knew how to be discreet. He didn't really want any relationships anyway. Not right now. His wife's death was still to very near. Mainly his only partners in Cairo were from the base so he got used to it.  
The End


End file.
